FILE - A worker cleans a jet bridge at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., before passengers board an Alaska Airlines flight on March 4, 2019. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines owns Horizon Air. An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, tried to shut down the engines in mid-flight and had to be subdued by the crew, according to a pilot flying the plane. PORTLAND, Ore.
Police reported that Emerson did not appear to be intoxicated at the time of the interview, and in a statement Tuesday, Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, said neither the gate agents nor flight crew noticed any signs of impairment that might have barred him from the flight. An FBI agent wrote in a probable cause affidavit in support of the federal charge that Emerson “said it was his first-time taking mushrooms.
The FBI affidavit said Emerson, who as an off-duty pilot was authorized to ride in the cockpit’s jump seat, made casual conversation with the captain and first officer when the plane was between Astoria, Oregon, and Portland, before trying to grab two red handles that would have activated the plane’s fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines.
The Associated Press has been unable to contact Emerson’s family or others who might speak on his behalf. Court records did not indicate if he has obtained a lawyer.The captain and first officer told police after the plane landed that Emerson said “I'm not OK” just before he reached up to pull the handles. They were able to stop him before he pulled the handles all the way down, the affidavit said.
He also told them he thought he was having a nervous breakdown and said:"I pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up,” according to the affidavit.as part of their regularly scheduled medical exams. There have been crashes that investigators believe were deliberately caused by pilots.